Image copyrightPAImage caption
Pearse McAuley, pictured here in 1991, is a former member of the IRA

Prominent Irish republican Pearse McAuley has been arrested after his wife Pauline was stabbed at their home.

Mr McAuley, who was one of the men convicted of killing Detective Garda Jerry McCabe in 1996, was arrested in County Cavan on Christmas Eve.

Mrs McAuley, who is a former Sinn Fein councillor, was attacked in the house earlier in the day.

It is understood she suffered several stab wounds and had to undergo emergency surgery.

Mr McAuley who was in the IRA, served 10 years of a 16-year prison sentence for his part in killing Detective McCabe, who was shot dead in County Limerick during the botched robbery of a post office van.

Sinn Féin said the incident was a matter for the police and they would not be saying anything else that might compromise the investigation.